StreetlightInTheGhetto:probably not as bad as last year when the river was too low for many boats to even pass through certain areas.

You remind me of when everyone was jumping up and down at how happy they were that spring was finally here on the last week of March. Maybe you should wait until, say, July, and see how the river situation is.

♪♫ Well I come up the river the other nightDarker than the inside of a cowAin't nothin like a crooked old river, straighten my head right outNow I love my love she's pretty as could beAnd I love to take her downThose pretty ladies really like to rideWhen the Captain Buck Lay comes downWhen the Captain Buck Lay comes down ♪♫

As someone who builds barges, you gotta fark up something MAJOR in order to sink one of these things. And to have several more in a partially submerged state? What the hell was going on up there? Maybe they aren't the same size as the ones I work on, but damn...

ypsifly:vicejay: I live three blocks from that river. I need to get my ass down to the levee more often for a walk.

[i.imgur.com image 850x479]

But if the levee breaks you'll have no place to stay....

True...but if I have enough warning, I'm getting *up* on the levee. High ground.

Related: A couple of years ago, the river here in New Orleans was at a near-historic high. They had to open floodgates upriver, as they do from time to time, to keep it from getting dangerously high.

And, what I mean by dangerous: The 'levees' that failed after Katrina were floodwalls that held back water from canals running to/from Lake Pontchartrian. Therefore, the city flooded to a level consistent with the lake level, which is three feet above sea level. Many parts of the city (but not all) are slightly below sea level, hence the flooding that ranged from none to a foot to 10 feet. Many major parts of the city (downtown, french quarter, most of Uptown) that were built on the highest ground saw no flooding at all.

However: 2 years ago, the river level was at 17 feet above flood level. The Corps warned that if the river levee got overtopped and scoured out (on the 'Eastbank' side,) the resulting flooding would put the ENTIRE city under 15+ feet of water.

croesius:As someone who builds barges, you gotta fark up something MAJOR in order to sink one of these things. And to have several more in a partially submerged state? What the hell was going on up there? Maybe they aren't the same size as the ones I work on, but damn...

vicejay:True...but if I have enough warning, I'm getting *up* on the levee. High ground.

Related: A couple of years ago, the river here in New Orleans was at a near-historic high. They had to open floodgates upriver, as they do from time to time, to keep it from getting dangerously high.

And, what I mean by dangerous: The 'levees' that failed after Katrina were floodwalls that held back water from canals running to/from Lake Pontchartrian. Therefore, the city flooded to a level consistent with the lake level, which is three feet above sea level. Many parts of the city (but not all) are slightly below sea level, hence the flooding that ranged from none to a foot to 10 feet. Many major parts of the city (downtown, french quarter, most of Uptown) that were built on the highest ground saw no flooding at all.

However: 2 years ago, the river level was at 17 feet above flood level. The Corps warned that if the river levee got overtopped and scoured out (on the 'Eastbank' side,) the resulting flooding would put the ENTIRE city under 15+ feet of water.

The rivers here in MI are blown out with some still rising, so I doubt you'll get a reprieve any time soon. I've been to NOLA before Katrina and fished Ponchartrain and lots of the canals and bayous, so I can see how flood control is a nightmare.

Isn't it weird how the weather conditions are behaving in such a way that we are bouncing back and forth from one extreme (no water) to the other (too much water)? And we are cycling through them so quickly. I wish there was some one who would have warned us this could happen.

Uchiha_Cycliste:Isn't it weird how the weather conditions are behaving in such a way that we are bouncing back and forth from one extreme (no water) to the other (too much water)? And we are cycling through them so quickly. I wish there was some one who would have warned us this could happen.

Nostradamus...Al Gore...Art Bell?

I live in a place where the weather seems to always be off kilter, so I take it in stride.

Looking back through history, the weather has always been in a state of flux...our current abilities to monitor and disseminate that information makes things appear extreme, but in the grand scheme of things, its just nature doing what nature does. An ice age scenario or the weather patterns the planet experienced during the age of the dinosaurs will or will not happen...eventually.

ypsifly:Uchiha_Cycliste: Isn't it weird how the weather conditions are behaving in such a way that we are bouncing back and forth from one extreme (no water) to the other (too much water)? And we are cycling through them so quickly. I wish there was some one who would have warned us this could happen.

Nostradamus...Al Gore...Art Bell?

I live in a place where the weather seems to always be off kilter, so I take it in stride.

Looking back through history, the weather has always been in a state of flux...our current abilities to monitor and disseminate that information makes things appear extreme, but in the grand scheme of things, its just nature doing what nature does. An ice age scenario or the weather patterns the planet experienced during the age of the dinosaurs will or will not happen...eventually.

agreed. But that is sort of ignoring or white washing away the fact we ARE having an effect and we COULD do something to minimize the upcoming baadness. Just from a fiscal standpoint its much cheaper to prevent these things from happening than to deal with them after they do.

Uchiha_Cycliste: agreed. But that is sort of ignoring or white washing away the fact we ARE having an effect and we COULD do something to minimize the upcoming baadness. Just from a fiscal standpoint its much cheaper to prevent these things from happening than to deal with them after they do.

While I agree with you in terms o thef micro level. in terms the big picture I'll have to quote George Carlin:

"The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles ... hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages ... And we think some plastic bags and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet isn't going anywhere. WE are!

We're going away. Pack your shiat, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Maybe a little Styrofoam ... The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas."At the end of the day, we don't matter so much as the planet, in terms of the climate on a larger scale, will keep on keepin' on as it has and will continue to do in spite of us.

ypsifly:Uchiha_Cycliste: agreed. But that is sort of ignoring or white washing away the fact we ARE having an effect and we COULD do something to minimize the upcoming baadness. Just from a fiscal standpoint its much cheaper to prevent these things from happening than to deal with them after they do.

While I agree with you in terms o thef micro level. in terms the big picture I'll have to quote George Carlin:

"The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles ... hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages ... And we think some plastic bags and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet isn't going anywhere. WE are!

We're going away. Pack your shiat, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Maybe a little Styrofoam ... The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas."At the end of the day, we don't matter so much as the planet, in terms of the climate on a larger scale, will keep on keepin' on as it has and will continue to do in spite of us.

All true, and when the BIG shiat that we can't control happens survival is gonna suck. In the mean tim we can stop dumpng geenhouse gases in the atmosphere and killing the oceans. Why not do what we can so when the big stff hits we aren't already at an overwhelming disadvantage?

Uchiha_Cycliste:ypsifly: Uchiha_Cycliste: agreed. But that is sort of ignoring or white washing away the fact we ARE having an effect and we COULD do something to minimize the upcoming baadness. Just from a fiscal standpoint its much cheaper to prevent these things from happening than to deal with them after they do.

While I agree with you in terms o thef micro level. in terms the big picture I'll have to quote George Carlin:

"The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles ... hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages ... And we think some plastic bags and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet isn't going anywhere. WE are!

We're going away. Pack your shiat, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Maybe a little Styrofoam ... The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas."At the end of the day, we don't matter so much as the planet, in terms of the climate on a larger scale, will keep on keepin' on as it has and will continue to do in spite of us.

All true, and when the BIG shiat that we can't control happens survival is gonna suck. In the mean tim we can stop dumpng geenhouse gases in the atmosphere and killing the oceans. Why not do what we can so when the big stff hits we aren't already at an overwhelming disadvantage?

As someone who tries to minimize his carbon footprint, I agree with you, but I can't help but think that when the big gears start turning, whatever is gonna happen will happen, in spite of us.

Its all about micro versus macro. I'm trying to do right and not shiat the bed the bed I sleep in so I can enjoy things like clean air and water, and biodiversity when I go fishing and hiking...but at some point we will go the way of the dinosaur.

This thread has reminded me that I need to drag the recycling bin to the curb before turning in for the night. I'm finishing my beer and getting ready to do just that.